Saturday, September 15, 2012

Gen Con 2012

Finally, the post you're probably no longer waiting for!

Evidence that Gen Con is under way in Indianapolis.

Gen Con 2012 began for us much like Gen Con 2011 did: with little (okay, I admit it was actually no) sleep and an early morning trip to the airport with luggage packed within fractions of a pound of the weight limit full of art and prints. Once the bags were collected in Indianapolis and hefted over to the convention center, setup went like usual, although this year we were setting up two tables; one for me and one for Vinod. The most difficult adjustment we would have to make was running our separate tables alone until our friend arrived on Friday afternoon to help us.

Any trepidation about either of us being able to fill more panels than we had in the past soon disappeared.

This year our row neighbors were Tyler Walpole, Dan Scott and Scott Murphy. The art show Guest of Honor was Todd Lockwood, a veteran in the field of fantasy art. Todd helped define the look for the characters and creatures of the Third Edition of Dungeons and Dragons. His dragon designs in particular are equally sleek and powerful, visualizing a classic mythological creature with majesty and realism. Those of us who worked on illustrations for Third (and 3.5) Edition D&D became well acquainted with his drawings as we referred to the high standards set by Todd when we made our own dragon images.

The convention began on Thursday, and it was unusually busy for the first day.

On Friday, I had the opportunity to catch up with editors Vanessa Wieland and Christina Richards from F+W Media (publisher of my book under the IMPACT imprint) whom I met for the first time at Gen Con last year. Christina edited The Explorer's Guide to Drawing Fantasy Creatures.

Friday evening after the exhibit hall closed all of the artists gathered for the annual art show reception where we were finally able to mingle after a busy couple of days at the convention center. The reception wraps each year with the announcement of the Gen Con art show award winners in several categories. Imagine my complete surprise when it was announced that Guest of Honor Todd Lockwood, Wizards of the Coast art director Jon Schindehette, and last year's Best in Show winner Scott Murphy had selected my work for Gen Con 2012 Best in Show! What an honor!

Cool-looking crystal trophies come with responsibilities. Next year I will be joining the Gen Con 2013 art show Guest of Honor and an as-yet unnamed art director to judge the 2013 art show awards. Gulp!

The Explorer's Guide to Drawing Fantasy Creatures at the Gen Con art show.

Sketchbooks and samples of prints for sale at the show.

Good news continued during the remainder of the convention. The Explorer's Guide to Drawing Fantasy Creatures was once again a hit after a slow start on Thursday and Friday. All but one of the books I brought sold. My sketchbook, Journey, also did well this year with a record twenty copies sold. I was also happy to have sold several original paintings. It's always a plus to go home with lighter suitcases and fewer boxes to ship! Table traffic on Saturday and Sunday was almost overwhelmingly busy, so I apologize to anyone who stopped by and did not have the chance to chat with me or otherwise get helped in a timely manner!

Thank you to art show coordinator Barbara Fisher and the rest of the Gen Con staff, all of the artists, attendees, friends and everyone else who helped to make Gen Con 2012 our best show yet! Can't wait to see you next year!